New Canaan, Connecticut;
RESALE value wasn’t what Rodney and Beverly Hawes had in mind when they built a giant “sports barn” behind their pondside home here. The only audience they were looking to please consisted of their 25 grandchildren.
The three-level barn is actually more like a resort, and its 10,000 square feet are filled with fun. In addition to his-and-hers bunkrooms, a full kitchen and a bar, the Haweses put in a basketball court with a scoreboard, a bowling lane and an electronic golf simulator. The movie theater has leather seating for 30. The stage is equipped with professional lighting and sound systems, operated from a balcony above.
The barn thrilled the grandchildren — but the market hasn’t known quite what to do with it. The Haweses’ property, which also includes their seven-bedroom house, a guest cottage, a pool, an outdoor kitchen and a stocked trout pond, has yet to find a buyer after two years.
“With Obama in charge of things, frankly, we might as well get on with life,” Mr. Hawes said, alluding to the president’s call for higher taxes on the wealthy. “Otherwise, we’re going to end up giving it to the folks in Washington anyway.”
sniffle, sniffle, no one interested in their obscene indulgence, what’s the world coming to. It’s enough to almost make me side with Obama.
Read all about it; NYTimes.com
At Auction, a Barn Full of Wonders
